Devices, methods, and computer-readable media for providing sevices based upon identification of decision makers and owners associated with communication services

ABSTRACT

Devices, methods and computer-readable media for providing services based upon identification of decision makers and owners associated with communication services. Data for providing communication services based upon identification of decision makers associated with communication services is stored, wherein the data including a user profile and default template identifying a default decision maker for a service. Policy rules and the stored data are analyzed. A new decision maker for a particular service is identified based upon the analysis of the policy rules and the stored data. The communication services are provided to the identified new decision maker.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to the following co-pending andcommonly-assigned patent applications, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its respective entirety:

“DEVICES, METHODS, AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR PROVIDING CONTROL OFSWITCHING BETWEEN MEDIA PRESENTATION SCREENS” having Ser. No.12/253,003;

“DEVICES, METHODS, AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR PROVIDINGCALENDAR-BASED COMMUNICATION SYSTEM SERVICES” having Ser. No.12/253,157;

“DEVICES, METHODS, AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR PROVIDING BROADQUALITY OF SERVICE OPTIMIZATION USING POLICY-BASED SELECTIVE QUALITYDEGRADATION” having Ser. No. 12/253,178; and

“DEVICES, METHODS, AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR PROVIDING QUALITY OFSERVICE OPTIMIZATION VIA POLICY-BASED REARRANGEMENTS” having Ser. No.12/253,197.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments herein relate to systems, methods, and computer-readablemedia for providing services based upon identification of servicedecision makers. More particularly, the embodiments relates to devices,methods and computer-readable media for providing services based uponidentification of decision makers and owners associated withcommunication services.

Wireless cell phone technology offers the convenience of keeping incontact with others at any place and at any time. Cell phones mayconnect wirelessly with a cell phone network to offer data andcommunication services. Cell phones often combine communication, digitalphotography, video game functions, video and audio-video viewingfunctions, etc. To take advantage of this added functionality, hybridcell phones that combine short-range (WiFi), high-speed Internet accessand cellular service have been marketed to allow users to makeconnections using a local wireless Internet access point and seamlesslyswitch over to a cell phone network whenever necessary. Moreover,cellular carriers have spent billions of dollars to upgrade theirsystems for high-speed data. The upgraded networks offer wide coveragethat exceeds WiFi's short range.

The computing power and the functionality now present on mobile devicesenables many new services and functions to be provided to communicationsystem customers. In addition, such new services and functions presentopportunities for new revenue streams for system carriers. By providingthe new services and functions, the carriers are able to developlong-term relationships with both residential and corporate subscribers.

Control of applications, services and networks associated with acommunication system can be achieved using a policy architecture. Apolicy architecture may include a rules engine plus enforcement pointsin applications and throughout the network. Accordingly, wirelesssystems are being built upon the promise of delivering new and differenttypes of high-speed multimedia services. In this way, service providerscan extend their offerings beyond basic network services to include alsovalue-added services and specialized application services. The servicemanagement concept involves the ability to create, supervise, update andremove services on a networking platform so that service providers candeliver the new services adapted to the customer requirements andexperiences, meeting the customer demand while fulfilling customerexpectations.

For each account, there are one or more persons that may acts as adecision maker (DM). The DM may be an individual purchaser. For example,a father may purchase and be a DM for a service, but the wife and/or oneor more of the children may also be DM's. A teenager may be the actualprimary user of a service purchased by a parent, and so may be the“owner” or DM for that service. Accordingly, a service provider mayinteract with multiple users, especially as services become more capableand complex. As the likelihood of more than one DM existing for anaccount, there is a critical need to be able to identify DM's for aservice, to determine how those persons are DM's, and to be able to makegood decisions of many kinds based on that determination, e.g. tointeract with the right persons in any given situation.

It is respect to these and other considerations that the embodimentsdescribed herein have been made.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to exemplary embodiments, methods, computer-readable media,and devices provide services based upon identification of decisionmakers and owners associated with communication services.

According to one embodiment, data for providing communication servicesbased upon identification of decision makers associated withcommunication services is stored, wherein the data includes a userprofile and default template identifying a default decision maker for aservice. Policy rules and the stored data are analyzed. A new decisionmaker for a particular service is identified based upon the analysis ofthe policy rules and the stored data. The communication services areprovided to the identified new decision maker.

These and other features and advantages, which characterize theembodiments, will be apparent from a reading of the following detaileddescription and a review of the associated drawings. It is to beunderstood that both foregoing general description and the followingdetailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are notrestrictive of embodiments, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a general block diagram of a media and communicationnetwork according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a system for providing services based uponidentification of decision makers and owners associated withcommunication services according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates the operation policy-based determination of decisionmakers according to an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for providing services based uponidentification of decision makers and owners associated withcommunication services according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the embodiments, reference is made tothe accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shownby way of illustration the specific embodiments in which the inventionmay be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may beequally applicable to

providing services based upon identification of decision makers andowners associated with communication services.

FIG. 1 illustrates a general block diagram 100 of a media andcommunication network according to an exemplary embodiment. A multimediacarrier 110 is configured to provide hardware and softwareinfrastructure for the delivery of content and for providingcommunication channels for subscribers or other users. Examples ofcommunication channels include telephone services, Internet access,voice-over-IP, interactive television and gaming, etc. The multimediacarrier 110 acquires programming from content providers and encodes thecontent. The multimedia carrier 110 may also add local programming andprovide additional digital services such as video on demand, and storagefor content according to user directions.

The multimedia carrier 110 is coupled to a network 120 for distributingthe content, providing Internet access, telephone services, etc. Thenetwork 120 provides the intermediate infrastructure between thepoint-of-delivery 130 and the multimedia carrier 110. The network 120may be configured to provide one or more or the intermediateinfrastructure 140 for television content delivery, plain-old-telephonesystem, satellite television, Internet services, wirelesscommunications, such as cellular mobile phone services, etc.Accordingly, the network may include hub offices, IP service offices,local loop carrier facilities, satellite carrier facilities,communication satellites, telecom point-of-presence, mobile switchingcenters, base stations, and distribution nodes.

At the point-of-delivery 130, a router 132 may be used to providedigital services, such as Internet access. A computer or otherInternet-capable device 160 may be coupled to the router 132 by anetwork cable 162 or wirelessly 164. A residential gateway 134 may beused to provide content, e.g., IPTV, to multimedia-capable viewingdevices, such as a television, via a cable 172 or wirelessly 174. Amobile device 150 operates within a mobile operating system. Examples ofsuch mobile devices 150 may include cell phones, smart phones, handheldcomputers, personal digital assistants, etc.

In addition, mobile devices 150 may be configured to use location-basedservices (LBS) to receive information specific to a location. Someexamples of location-based services include requesting the nearestbusiness or service, such as an ATM or restaurant, and finding a friend.A service provider may obtain the location of a mobile device from aglobal positioning system (GPS) circuit built into the device, or byusing radiolocation and triangulation based on the signal-strength ofthe closest cell-phone towers (for phones without GPS features). Anyother suitable means of obtaining or estimating location may also beused.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system 200 for providing services based uponidentification of decision makers and owners associated withcommunication services according to an exemplary embodiment. Policyrules engine plus enforcement points in applications enable a serviceprovider to identify DM's for a service, to determine how those personsare DM's, and to be able to make good decisions of many kinds based onthat determination, e.g. to interact with the right persons in any givensituation. As shown in FIG. 2, a data collection and system controlprocessor 210 includes a policy decision module 250 that makes decisionsbased on the collected data 230. Based upon the collected data 230, thedata collection and system control processor 210 may identify differentsystem states 222, such as the state of the network, various states ofnetwork-related equipment such as routers and firewalls, various statesof service-related equipment such servers, the state of a serviceprovided to a user, even the state of a customer, or other morefine-grained managed object states. The data collection and systemcontrol processor 210 may also identify functions, services, eventsuggestions, etc. that may be of interest to a customer. Inferencesregarding what users like, need, and would be inclined to prefer canalso be obtained. The policy decision module 250 uses the collected data230 to identify DM's for a service thereby improving the quality ofservice as well as services provided to customers.

The data collection and system control processor 210 gathers informationfrom across the network of users 220. The data collection and systemcontrol processor 210 collects and controls the system based uponcollected data 230. The data collection and system control processor 210includes memory 212, policy rules 214, a policy decision module 250 anda processor 218. The processor 218 controls the functions, analysis andmanipulation of collected data 230, applies policy rules 214. Based onthe policy rules 214, the policy decision module identifies theappropriate decision maker. The processor 218 uses the policy rules 214and the collected data 230 to identify suggestions or network changes toperform for the identified decision maker. To accomplish the operationsof embodiments, the policy enforcement functions 260 may be used toactivate or implement the identified services or functions as discussedherein.

The data collection and system control processor 210 also obtains theuser preferences 226 and builds profiles on users based on theactivities of the users. The collected data 230 is stored in a database240 or other suitable means of storage, e.g., flash memory. The database240 may also be used to store relevant information regarding users, userpreferences, allowable actions, rule parameters such as decisionthresholds, and large numbers of various indexed suggestions.Accordingly, the data collection and system control processor 210 may beconfigured to manage a customer's services, applications and networkfunctions.

The policy decision module 250 makes policy based determinations ofinteraction with service decision makers allows a service provider toidentify the owner of each service, to identify the best person to callregarding the service, to identify the person that pays the bill, etc.There may be many people in a home or other group, such as a work group,which may act as a decision maker for any particular service. Further,the decision maker for a service may change over time. Policy baseddetermination of interaction with service decision makers allows serviceproviders to better market their services and thereby increase sales.When marketing services, the service provider does not want to bothersomebody that is not relevant.

The policy decision module 250 may be configured to automatically makechanges in the network and the infrastructure for an identified decisionmaker associated with the service. Thus, whether that person is adecision maker, an influencer, or just a user, is important to know.Rather than making changes, suggestions may be presented to a decisionmaker. In addition, a script for a sales representative may be modifiedbased upon whether the policy decision module 250 determines that asales representative is talking to the decision makers. If the salesrepresentative is not talking to a decision maker, the script may bemodified to allow a sales representative to request the decision maker.Identifying decision makers by the policy decision module 250 mayinvolve determining preferences or profiles of users of services.Initially, templates for identifying a decision maker may be provided asa default, e.g., the person the account is registered to. However, thepolicy decision module 250 is configured to determine the best person tocontact.

The policy decision module 250 allows the processor 218 to analyze thedata 230 and determine decision makers associated with different aspectsof services associated with an account, e.g. aspects of video, aspectsof audio, aspects of gaming, aspects of simulation, aspects ofmessaging, all bundled up in different ways for different services andthe different people in a group. For example, for video services, theremay a single owner, multiple owners or multiple decision makers. Thus,the policy decision module 250 identifies the priority scheme regardingdecision makers. The policy decision module may use differentinformation with policy rules 214 to make the decision. The data 230 maybe analyzed by the policy decision module 250 to identify who is loggingonto a website the most, who contacts the account owner the most, whopays the bill, who tends to call for assistance. Other data 230 may becollected during a call. The data 230 may also include corrections madeby customers provided as feedback.

The policy decision module 250 allows services, applications andfunction to be change for certain users if the policy decision module250 determines the user is a decision maker. The policy decision module250 may be configured to make suggestions associated with offerings ofthe service provider to an identified decision maker. Customers do notwant to see promotions unless they are the right person that should seethe promotions. Alternatively, the policy decision module 250 may givethe decision maker a higher priority in the network because it is moreimportant for the service provider to maintain contact with the decisionmaker than others. Accordingly, the policy decision module 250 mayidentify some services that are more pertinent to some sets of users,e.g., employees or family members.

The policy decision module 250 may access data 230 regarding the networkthat indicates that a potential decision maker is using a cell phonethat appears to be located on a freeway, whereas the person at the nextlevel down in the decision maker hierarchy is on a computer. Thus, thepolicy decision module 250 may decide to provide a promotion to theperson using the computer rather than the person that is potentiallydriving. Additional factors that the policy decision module 250 may takeinto account may include the time of day, the location, the end deviceor log in point, etc. The policy decision module 250 may also analyzethe data 230 so that information may be provided to other serviceproviders for a fee.

Some people may not be decision makers, but are identified asinfluencers. Among influencers, there may also be strong and weakinfluencers. The policy decision module 250 uses this data to makeappropriate decisions on whom to contact or to send promotions. Thepolicy decision module 250 may also decide that some people need to begiven password access to some website that you're setting upautomatically that would allow them to change parameters and change howtheir service is provided. The data 230 may include a list of who getscertain content. Thus, if the decision maker changes, the policydecision module 250 may change that list and change how the network isgoing to route services or content.

As stated above, policy rules may initially be provided in a defaultstate. Thus, the policy decision module 250 may implement policy rulesthat are initially in a default state, e.g., the policy rules may beassigned by the service provider based on the type of service and whatis known about the customer and the customer's group. However, thepolicy rules may be changed based on usage history. The policy decisionmodule 250 may also handle errors, wherein disputes, exceptions orerrors arise, when a decision by the service owner is required, whendefaults are unsatisfactory, etc.

FIG. 2 shows only one embodiment. However, other embodiments may takethe form of an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containingboth hardware and software elements. Other embodiments may beimplemented in software that includes, but is not limited to, firmware,resident software, microcode, etc. Furthermore, other embodiments maytake the form of a computer program product 290 accessible from acomputer-usable or computer-readable medium 268 providing program codefor use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction executionsystem.

For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computerreadable medium 268 can be any apparatus that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The medium 268 may be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or apropagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include asemiconductor or solid-state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computerdiskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), arigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of opticaldisks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compactdisk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

A system suitable for storing and/or executing program code forproviding data collection and system control according to an exemplaryembodiment may include at least one processor 210 coupled directly orindirectly to memory elements 212. The memory elements 212 can includelocal memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulkstorage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code must beretrieved from bulk storage during execution.

Accordingly, the computer program 290 comprise instructions which, whenread and executed by the system 200 of FIG. 2, causes the system 200 toperform the steps necessary to execute the steps or elements ofembodiments. Moreover, the functionality associated with the processor218 for providing data collection and system control 210 may becentralized or partially to fully distributed and included in any pieceof equipment or any portion of software in the system 200. Accordingly,the data collection and control framework may be distributed across thesystem 200. Further, the data collection and control 210 may beconfigured as an overlay over the system infrastructure to offer theservices, functions and suggestions discussed above. Still further, theinteraction with decision makers may be automated, semi-automated, ormanual.

FIG. 3 illustrates the operation policy-based determination of decisionmakers according to an exemplary embodiment. In FIG. 3, a decisionmaking system 310 is hosted by a service provider, i.e., serviceprovider 2 320. Another service provider, i.e., service provider 1 330may also access the decision making system 310. This access by serviceprovider 1 330 may be structured by fee payment to service provider 2320 or any other type of arrangement.

Service customers are shown residing in a building. The servicecustomers may subscribe to services provided by service provider 1 330and/or service provider 2 320. Service provider 1 330 makes a request340 to decision making system 310 and decision making system 310 returnsa response 342 identifying a decision maker 350 to service provider 1330. Service provider 1 330 then may interact 344 with the decisionmaker 350 provided in the response 342. Likewise, service provider 2 320makes a request 360 to decision making system 310 and decision makingsystem 310 returns a response 362 identifying a decision maker 370 toservice provider 2 320. Service provider 2 320 then may interact 364with the decision maker 370 provided in the response 362.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart 400 of a method for providing processorcontrolled services based upon identification of decision makers andowners associated with communication services according to an exemplaryembodiment. A user profile is obtained 410. For instance, a user profilemay be obtained from a user policy system and/or other system thatsupports profile/profiling, via one or more sign-up processes, via webpage or other interactive capability, etc. The user profile may includeanything important to know about the customer and the customer's group,e.g., family, business type and size, etc. A default decision maker (DM)and order of ownership template is assigned for various profiles andvarious services 420. A determination of the DM and order of ownershipmodel is made for a particular service 430. The determination of the DMand order of ownership model is based on policy rules operating on userprofiles, templates, service provider parameter information, userhistory, and other data. The determination of the DM and order ofownership model may also be selected at sign-up. Models may include asingle owner, multiple owners with order of priority possibly includingveto power, at least on some issues, and multiple owners, who mustagree, at least on some specified issues. All aspects of decision makerdeterminations may have default settings: ownership is pertinent whendisputes, exceptions and errors arise, when a decision by the serviceowner is required, when defaults are unsatisfactory, etc.

A determination of the actual DM or DM's order of ownership isdetermined for a particular service 440. The determination may be basedon policy rules operating on data obtained by monitoring who is loggingin to a website the most, who pays the bill, who calls for assistance,whoever is interacting with the service provider the most, etc.Optionally, the actual DM or DM's/order of ownership for the particularservice may be published. For example, a listing of the actual DM orDM's/order of ownership for the particular service may be provided via apassword-protected customer accessible web page. Also, modification ofDM or DM's/order of ownership may be enabled using a manual serviceprovider re-configuration process, e.g., initiated by a service reptalking to a customer. Modification of DM or DM's/order of ownership maybe enabled using a web page or other interactive capability. An owner orDM could also be allowed to delegate their authority for a certain timeperiod or situation. The services may then be provided to the identifiedactual DM and owners for the particular service 450.

Accordingly, devices, methods and computer-readable media provideservices based upon identification of decision makers and ownersassociated with communication services. Adjustment and learning of rolesmay be based on usage. A variety of rules, options and models regardingdecision-making may be implemented. Different roles may be provided fordifferent aspects of a service.

The above specification, examples and data provide a completedescription of the manufacture and use of the composition of theinvention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, the inventionresides in the claims hereinafter appended.

1. A device comprising: memory for storing data for providing servicesbased upon identification of decision makers associated withcommunication services, the data comprising a user profile and defaulttemplate identifying a default decision maker for a service; and acontroller for: analyzing policy rules and the stored data; identifyinga new decision maker for a particular service based on the analysis ofthe policy rules and the stored data; providing the services to theidentified new decision maker; and determining an order of ownershipmodel for the services selected from a group comprising a single owner,multiple owners with order of priority possibly including veto power forat least some issues, and multiple owners that agree at least on somespecified issues.
 2. The device of claim 1, the decision maker and theorder of ownership are reconfigurable.
 3. The device of claim 1, whereinthe controller identifies the new decision maker for the service basedon applying the policy rules to user profiles, templates, serviceprovider parameter information, and user history.
 4. The device of claim1, wherein the controller identifies the new decision maker whendisputes, exceptions and errors arise, when a decision by the serviceowner is required, and when defaults are unsatisfactory.
 5. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the policy rules are applied to data obtained bymonitoring who is logging in to a website the most, who pays the bill,who calls for assistance, and who is interacting with the serviceprovider the most.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein the controllerpublishes the new decision maker for the particular service identifiedby the controller.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the controllerprovides the identified new decision maker in a listing on apassword-protected customer accessible web page.
 8. The device of claim1, wherein authority of a decision maker is delegated according to apredetermined condition.
 9. A computer-readable medium that is not atransient signal per se, the computer-readable medium havingcomputer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed,cause a computer system to perform operations comprising: storing datafor providing communication services based upon identification ofdecision makers associated with communication services, the datacomprising a user profile and default template identifying a defaultdecision maker for a service; analyzing policy rules and the storeddata; identifying a new decision maker for a particular service basedupon the analysis of the policy rules and the stored data; determiningan order of ownership model for the services selected from a groupcomprising a single owner, multiple owners with order of prioritypossibly including veto power for at least some issues, and multipleowners that agree at least on some specified issues; and providing thecommunication services to the identified new decision maker.
 10. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 9, the operations further includingreconfiguring the identification of the decision maker and the order ofownership.
 11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein theidentifying a new decision maker for a particular service based upon theanalysis of the policy rules and the stored data further comprisesidentifying the new decision maker for the service based on applying thepolicy rules to user profiles, templates, service provider parameterinformation, and user history.
 12. The computer-readable medium of claim9, wherein the identifying a new decision maker for a particular servicefurther comprises identifying the new decision maker when disputes,exceptions and errors arise, when a decision by the service owner isrequired, and when defaults are unsatisfactory.
 13. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 9 the operations further includingapplying the policy rules to data obtained by monitoring who is loggingin to a website the most, who pays the bill, who calls for assistance,and who is interacting with the service provider the most.
 14. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 9, the operations further includingpublishing the new decision maker for the particular service.
 15. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 9, the operations further includingdelegating authority of a decision maker according to a predeterminedcondition.
 16. A method comprising: storing data for providingcommunication services based upon identification of decision makersassociated with communication services, the data including a userprofile and default template identifying a default decision maker for aservice; analyzing policy rules and the stored data; identifying a newdecision maker for a particular service based upon the analysis of thepolicy rules and the stored data; determining an order of ownershipmodel for the services selected from a group comprising a single owner,multiple owners with order of priority possibly including veto power forat least some issues, and multiple owners that agree at least on somespecified issues; and providing the communication services to theidentified new decision maker.
 17. The method of claim 16, theoperations further comprising configuring ownership and decision makersfor the services by applying the policy rules to data obtained bymonitoring activity and identifying the new decision maker for theservice based on applying the policy rules to data associated with auser.